A man who came upon the scene of Thursday’s fatal crash on the western side of the Manuka Gorge said it looked asif one of the vehicles might have crossed the centre line.
One person died in the crash and two people with serious injuries were flown to Dunedin Hospital after the collision.
The Lawrence resident, who was driving towards Milton about 4.50pm, said he was contacted by cellphone shortly before coming upon the accident and was warned emergency services had been dispatched from Lawrence to acrash he was yet to encounter.
"It looked like a bomb had gone off," he said.
"This occurred on straight road. Yes icy, but ... at first glance it appeared one of two vehicles had crossed the centre line into oncoming traffic."
There appeared to have been two people in each car, and the white car had been heading towards Milton.
He said there was so much debris on the road it made him wonder if a trailer had been involved.
"I thought about stopping to see if there was anything I could do but there were already a lot of of people around, flagging traffic and helping people who might have been in the cars."
Three police cars rushed past him towards the scene as he proceeded to Milton.
"As I understand it, [there was] full road closure, two helicopters in attendance, two ambulances, four police, fire truck ... a sad loss and I just hope a full recovery of the injured." — APL
